Retro Sunday: Norway 1981

In Norway, we treasure our losers and nil points almost as highly as our successes and victories. No less than ten times have we finished last, four of those times with not a single point to spare from any of our fellow contestants. 1981 was one of those years:

Back then we were used to being among the last in the pack, we loved our underdogs, and we still do! The feeling of being misunderstood, overlooked and too good for this contest anyways, was overwhelming. Pearls before swine, we say!

Because how can you not take a liking to this gentle ballad about love, friendship, fidelity and the promise of being faithful into eternity? The intro is dashing and the ta-dam-ti-dam piano riffs has ABBA’s Benny Andersson trademark written all over it. And he did in fact produce the studio recording. Ok, we admit that serious fashion crimes are being committed here, like who shows up on stage wearing the Finnish national ice hockey team’s jersey? That just looks seriously retarded. But for those of you who manage to look beyond this we would think that you are able to appreciate the quality of the song.

For a while back in the 90s we were struck be an inferiority complex, and participating in the Eurovision Song Contest, let alone doing badly and ending up in the bottom of the scoreboard, was just about the lamest thing we could think of. Finn Kalvik found himself being bullied and ridiculed by the 90s irony generation on one of the most popular tv-shows in Norway back then. We laughed and thought it was funny, but now we regret it, and we wish to extend an apology. We were young and stupid. Now we realize that it is those who just keeps on going, doing their own thing, because they love what they do, and not giving a tosser about ending up last with nil points, who are the coolest. And in the end the real winners.

This site is written by Guri Idsø Viken and Astrid Foldal from Norway. We are both communications professionals and writers and have shared our passion for Eurovision for years. We both grew up in the beautiful middle of nowhere, and as kids, the annual Eurovision final was their only share ... Continue reading →